Apple iPhone sales decline while profits register minor gain in Q2

Apple has revealed that compared to the previous quarter the sale of its iPhone units fell by 35% to 50.8 million during the second quarter.

Furthermore, the entity's revenues fell by 32% to $53bn (£41bn) in the March quarter. Revenues also slipped substantially in the Americas and Greater China operating segments, with both regions reporting a 34% fall in revenue to $21bn and $11bn, respectively in the same quarter.

The California-based firm's overall profits on a semi-annual basis climbed 0.15% to $29bn. The figures were revealed on Wednesday (May 3) in the firm's earnings report for the second quarter as of April 1, 2017.

The weak net profit gain caused Apple's shares to fall by more than 2% during after-trading hours, according to a report by CNBC.

Despite the weak growth in profits, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that he was "proud" of the company's performance during the quarter.

"We are proud to report a strong March quarter, with revenue growth accelerating from the December quarter and continued robust demand for iPhone 7 Plus", Cook said.

"We've seen great customer response to both models of the new iPhone 7 (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition and we're thrilled with the strong momentum of our Services business, with our highest revenue ever for a 13-week quarter."

Apple is scheduled to release the latest iPhone 8 later this year, which is purported to be a significantly redesigned product.

Recently, Apple has proposed to own a joint stake with Toshiba in the latter's semiconductors unit, which produces memory chips widely used in smart phones, tablets, and laptops. Apple currently acquires its chips from third party sources.

As opposed to Apple, Samsung produces its own memory chips through its in-house semiconductor division. The South Korean firm has managed to capture the largest market share of smart phones at 26.1% of the market share while Apple is second with 16.9%.